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ADDRESS 



BY 



REV. FRANK S. CHILD, D.D. 

President of 
Thk Fairfield Historical Society 



The Twentieth Annual Celebration of 

INDEPENDENCE DAY 

on Fairfield Green 



Arranged by the 

Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter 
Daughters of the American Revolution 



Printed for the Chapter 

Fairfield : Connecticut 

1917 






u?> 









INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

THE Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution has 
placed this communitj'- and the state under great 
obligations by reason of many patriotic contribu- 
tions to the public service. For twenty years the 
members of this Chapter, with wise and sympa- 
thetic spirit, have arranged an annual Independ- 
ence Day celebration beneath the grateful shade 
of our monarch trees on the Green. 

On this one hundred and forty-first anniver- 
sary of the Republic's birth it was proposed to 
raise a steel Liberty Pole in front of the Town 
Hall and unfurl a new flag in the breezes. 
Prayers were offered by Archdeacon A. E. Bee- 
man, the Declaration of Independence was read 

PAGE FIVE 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

by Mr. Frederick Sturges, Jr., the Redmen's 
band played appropriate airs and led the multi- 
tude in singing America and the Star Spangled 
Banner, the Home Guard stood at attention 
throughout the exercises and a large company of 
loyal citizens and visitors joined heartily in ex- 
pressions of unswerving allegiance to God and 
our country. In explaining to the assembled 
people that although the Liberty Pole had ar- 
rived its placing was necessarily delayed, the 
chairman reminded his hearers that we had spe- 
cial reason for rejoicing in the fact that our First 
Expeditionary Contingent had entered France, 
having safely crossed the submarine-haunted sea. 
He also called to mind what had been done by 
the United States in the three months since war 
was declared — how ten millions of men had been 
registered for service, more than a billion dollars 
loaned to the allies, a bond issue of two billions 
easily floated with enormous over- subscription — 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

how a great war budget had been voted; how 
business had been mobilized; how fleets of ships 
had been sent to the aid of our friends ; how the 
navy had doubled its personnel; the Regular 
Army recruited from 120,000 to 260,000 and the 
National Guard from 100,000 to probably 250,- 
000; how 50,000 men had been sent to training 
camps to prepare as officers ; how a vast shipping 
program had been set in motion; how food had 
been conserved and placed under the control of 
a leader ; how Liberty Bonds and Red Cross sub- 
scriptions had amazed the nations; how aviation 
had forged to the front; how a mighty spirit of 
loyalty had surged through the entire land and 
the colonies dependent upon us. 

It was James G. Blaine who observed that "the 
United States is the only country with a known 
birthday. All the rest began, they know not 
when, and grew into power, they knew not how." 
In commemoration of the day and the events 



PAGE SEVEN 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

intimately associated with the historic Fairfield 
"Parade" the speaker addressed the Daughters of 
the American Revolution, the Home Guard, the 
school children and the many friends and guests 
present at four o'clock on the interesting occa- 
sion. 



PAGE EIGHT 



ADDRESS 

BY 

REV. FRANK S. CHILD 



PAQE NINE 



ADDRESS 



THE FAIRFIELD *TARADE" 

THIS soil on which we stand has been con- 
secrated in peace and in war to the sacred 
cause of liberty. It was here that the fathers 
laid out the "parade" for the evolution of train 
bands. The meeting house was erected on the 
edge of the "parade" and for a time was used as 
the gathering place for citizens acting in their 
capacity as voters and law makers. The courts 
likewise held their sessions on this spot for more 
than two hundred years. It was here that law 
and order were vindicated by the use of such in- 
struments as the stocks, the whipping post and 

PAGE ELEVEN 



THE FAIRFIELD 'PARADE 



the county jail. Perils from Indians and perils 
from the settlers of New Amsterdam forced the 
Puritan adventurers to organize a military com- 
pany and practice here regularly the manual of 
arms. When Ludlow enlisted his little army to 
resist the encroachments of the Dutch, it was on 
these acres that he drilled the men and addressed 
them with his characteristic fervor and impetu- 
osity. And when the wars with the Redmen 
raged, the citizen soldiers assembled here in 
preparation and mai-ched from this place to the 
regions of conflict. 

During the war of the American Revolution 
Fairfield "parade" was a center of civic and mili- 
tary activity. The eloquence which flowed spon- 
taneously from the lips of patriots thrilled the 
souls of the people who naturally congregated 
upon the Green. Here the Continental troops 
bivouacked and drilled in preparation for war 
and on occasion stood guard over the town. Here 



PAGE TWELVE 



THE FAIRFIELD PARADE'' 

they fought the British in 1779, defending the 
county seat to the best of their ability, driven to 
the hills by overwhelming numbers of Redcoats 
who took possession of the place and camped 
upon this familiar soil — to withdraw when the 
whole settlement had been given over to con- 
flagration. Col. Whiting and his troops speedily 
erected their tents here amid the smoke and deso- 
lation, affording such relief and mitigation of 
suffering as was possible under the circum- 
stances. It was on the Green the first wor- 
shippers assembled after the burning of the town 
and cheered one another with such hope and en- 
couragement as martyrs for liberty are able to 
minister. It was here that soldiers, statesmen, 
eminent patriots and leaders of great repute 
were accustomed to tarry at the "ordinary" — 
General Washington at the Sun Tavern on the 
southwest corner of the Green — judges, senators, 
artists like Copley and Trumbull, poets like Bar- 

PAGE THIRTEEN 



THE F AIRFIELD PARADE' 

low, Dwight, Humphrey at Bulkley's or 
Knapp's Tavern. Here again when the War of 
1812 was projected upon the United States the 
militia practiced their evolutions and prepared 
for the fresh defense of honor and freedom. And 
on the Green it was that the great celebration 
was held — the celebration over the treaty of 
peace with Great Britain — when a sermon was 
preached by Dr. Humphrey, a splendid proces- 
sion with symbolic floats passed up and down the 
way, an ox was roasted — a real barbecue — and 
the day concluded by a huge bonfire here and an 
elegant ball at the tavern on the northeast corner 
of the Green. 

And it was in this place that strange and 
stirring scenes were witnessed during the years 
of the Civil War with gatherings and partings, 
patriotic speeches and martial music, soldiers 
once more going forth from Fairfield to battle 
for right, honor, freedom. What a record of 

PAGE FOURTEEN 



THE FOURTH OF JULY 

crucial events might be written — what a narra- 
tive of patriotism might be retold — did the air 
above us hold in its keeping the sights and sounds 
which have consecrated this precious portion of 
Fairfield soil. All honor to the men and meas- 
ures which have rendered this spot sacred ! 



THE FOURTH OF JULY 

This day is also sacred — this day which marks 
the signing of the Declaration of Independence 
and its promulgation to a waiting, incredulous 
world. Other republics had been formed in ages 
past. Some kind of independency occasionally 
existed for a time among ancient peoples. Greece 
and Roman erected governments which made a 
boast of freedom — a circumscribed and uncertain 
freedom. It remained for British colonies — in- 
heriting the impulses dating back to Magna 

PAGE FIFTEEN 



THE FOURTH OF JULY 

Charta — to phrase in fresh and memorable form 
a document which set forth the great principles 
of a truly democratic government. It remained 
for the idealists of America, the patriots who im- 
bibed the spirit of Pym and Hampden and Crom- 
well, to put into immortal sentences the great 
fundamental truths which concern the govern- 
ment of a people, for the people, by the people. 
It was a great day — the fourth of July, 1776 — 
when John Hancock, President of the Continen- 
tal Congress, and his company of associates, hav- 
ing affixed their signatures to the document, sent 
it forth to be read in the hearing of the waiting 
colonists, sent it forth to declare that "all men 
are created equal — that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights — 
that among these are life, liberty and the pur- 
suit of happiness." It was Lord Chatham who 
said that for solidity of reasoning and wisdom of 
conclusion the document was unparalleled. After 

FACIE SIXTEEN 



THE LIBERTY POLE 

the first reading of the Declaration in Congress 
the bell above them which had inscribed upon it : 
"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto 
all the inhabitants thereof," was rung for two 
hours and the notes of the liberty bell sent the 
echoes resounding from one end of the colonies 
to the other. This day is commemoration day 
— consecrated to the joyous and beneficent re- 
membrance of national independence. 



THE LIBERTY POLE 

And this standard which the Daughteis of the 
American Revolution propose to rear on this 
consecrated soil is a consecrated emblem. The 
Liberty Pole is intimately associated with the 
colonists' struggle for freedom. Sons of Liberty 
erected many such standards in the days passed. 
Their descendants fired with the like spirit of 

PAGE SEVENTEEN 



THE LIBERTY POLE 

loyalty rear these heaven pointing witnesses to 
liberty today. Affixing to the slender, graceful 
spire the national colors, how significant and in- 
spiring the sight! For the flag floating in the 
breeze speaks straight to the heart and the im- 
agination of the patriot. The American Revo- 
lution was more than a protest against taxation 
without representation. It was a distinct and ur- 
gent movement in behalf of true democracy. It 
declared that governments derive their just pow- 
ers from the consent of the governed. The past 
century has seen the nations of earth yielding to 
this high doctrine, until America north and south, 
Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, aflame with 
hope and zeal in behalf of freedom, took up the 
work, joined the advance and today with few 
exceptions declare the word liberty to be their 
watchword and slogan. This flag whose red ex- 
alts the sacrificial spirit, whose white suggests 
purity and honor in manhood, whose blue speaks 

PAGE EIGHTEEN 



THE LIBERTY POLE 

of truth, right, justice, the fundamental princi- 
ples of good government — this flag whose stripes 
remind us of the thirteen original independencies 
— whose stars, many stars now remind us how 
the thirteen have multiplied unto forty-eight in- 
dependencies, all woven into a constellation of 
harmonious and co-operative bodies, shining with 
the glorious light of liberty — this flag represents 
not only the unity of our nation, the peaceable- 
iiess of our purposes, our sublime faith in the 
God of righteousness — it represents also the un- 
dying desire and aspiration of an intelligent and 
resourceful people to serve the waiting, 
harassed nations of earth, our desire and aspira- 
tion to share the privileges and enjoyments of 
freedom with our brother men throughout the 
whole world. This beautiful emblem stands for 
all that is noblest, grandest, richest in govern- 
ment and citizenship ; for that largeness and f ree- 
ness of life; that fraternity and equality of 

PAGE NINETEEN 



THE LIBERTY POLE 



spirit; that loyalty which produces the best and 
the finest achievement in human character and 
national worth. 

With fresh enthusiasm, with unquenchable 
faith in the rightness of the Cause which we 
champion, with high hope for the ultimate vic- 
tory of true democracy among all the nations of 
earth, with the assuring resolve that we will 
share our substance, our manhood, our all, in 
sacrificial spirit for the sake of our stricken 
brothers across the sea, for the sake of suffering 
humanity — with enthusiasm, faith, hope and fra- 
ternal affection — we bless and salute this match- 
less emblem of freedom — our beloved Stars and 
Stripes. 

"O say, can you see, by the dawn's early 
light 

What so proudly we hailed, at the twi- 
light's last gleaming? 

PAOE TWENTY 



THE LIBERTY POLE 

O saj^ does the Star Spangled Banner 

yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home 

of the brave?" 

Yes, a thousand times yes, it still waves over 
our land — it waves over our homes, our schools, 
our churches, our places of trade and manufac- 
ture, our halls of legislation and justice; it waves 
o'er land and sea. And it waves in England — 
from the House of Parliament and St. Paul's 
Cathedral — it waves in France from housetop 
and hotel de ville and above our own soldiers 
pushing toward the trenches. And it is destined to 
wave, not in conquest, but in vindication of hon- 
or, fairness, humanity, in many lands, over many 
people, a revered and exalted witness to the un- 
selfishness of this republic and our deathless de- 
termination to fight God's war for world free- 
dom and the peace of ages. 

PAGE TWENTY-ONE 



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BINDERY INC. |§| 

,^v APR 89 

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